Driving Through Flint, MichiganMust Be Easy on the EyesOur Buy American Mention of the Week!by Roger SimmermakerAugust 30, 2002

I've never been to Flint, Michigan, but I would
love to at
least drive though it. According to a recent Associated
Press article, a
whopping 96% of their citizens own or lease an American car.
Driving is
so much more pleasant when you are surrounded by smart
people. How would
I know if they are smart, you ask? Just look at what they
are driving!

A recent study revealed that 75% of American drivers own or
lease an
American car, while 43% own or lease foreign cars. The two
percentages
add up to be greater that 100% since some drivers have more
than one
car.

Now I do have a slight disagreement with the way imports are
classified
according to the study. Imports are classified as
foreign-owned models -
even the ones that are made here. I agree that models made
by foreign
companies should be classified as foreign cars, but the ones
produced
here should not be called imports because, well, they aren't
imported. I
also agree that models made by American-owned GM or Ford
should be
classified as domestic cars regardless of point of
manufacture, but the
ones that are imported should be called imports.

Anyway, the rest of the cities where people are likely to
buy or lease
an American car are as follows:

Wichita, KS

94%

Toledo, OH

92%

Des Moines/Ames, IA

91%

Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, MI

91%

Charleston/Huntington, SC

90%

Indianapolis, IN

90%

Tulsa, OK

89%

Detroit, MI

89%

Kansas City, MO

88%

Our nation's capital ranked a lowly 65%, taking 70th place
out of the 75
markets studied, and only 56% of those in New York City own
or lease a
domestic car. You have to wonder if the percentage was even
lower before
September 11.

Topping the list of cities where people are most likely to
lease or own
a foreign car is Honolulu, HI at 66%. The rest of the cities
are as
follows:

San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA

64%

Los Angeles, CA

60%

San Diego, CA

60%

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL

58%

Portland, OR

56%

Washington, D.C.

55%

Seattle/Tacoma, WA

55%

Raleigh/Durham, NC

52%

Hartford/New Haven, CT

50%

Austin, TX

50%

I was actually kind of surprised that Orlando, Florida
wasn't one of the
cities where people are most likely to buy foreign cars. It
seems there
are just as many foreign cars on the road here where I live
as domestic
cars. Maybe I should move to Flint, Michigan instead. Just a
casual
observance during daily driving would give me the impression
that I was
in the right place.